Welcome to my blog :)

Monday, May 10, 2010

Most frugal blogs and websites concentrate on things like clipping coupons and watching for sales. I'm not opposed to that sort of thing at all. It's just not how I personally practice my frugality. I personally believe the more often I am at the store - any store - the more temptation exists to make purchases I don't really need. Hence I do my grocery shopping only once every six to eight weeks.

For those of you who are new to once every six to eight week shopping, you may perceive this as an impossibility. It is not. Although I would agree it's so much easier during the months when the garden is growing and I have access to fresh vegetables!

Yes, at times it is a challenge. (I love the challenge of looking at nearly bare shelves and figuring out what to make!) At times this has yielded a wonderful and tasty creation. At other times, not so great.

Example: On Saturday evening we had a guest for dinner. I had nothing in particular planned for dinner and no clue where to begin. I had a bag of chopped, cooked chicken from my last chicken project (more on my chicken projects in another post!). I located a can of cream of chicken soup, a packet of dry italian dressing mix, a bit of sour cream, and a soft pretzel in the freezer. I mixed together the cream of chicken soup, sour cream, and dry italian dressing. I placed that all in a casserole dish. Then I made fine bread crumbs out of the soft pretzel and mixed it with some fresh herbs from the garden (chives, rosemary and parsley). I placed that on top of the chicken mixture in the caserole and drizzled a little melted homemade "butter" (more on that in future posts as well!) on top. I baked it in the oven until it was heated through and the top browned.

Personally it was not one of my greatest successes. But, my husband said he enjoyed it and sometimes that counts a great deal!

But, I digress! After a few months of infrequent grocery shopping, you do become accustomed to the best strategy. I buy in bulk as much as I can, so fortunately you will not have to purchase EVERYTHING during your shopping venture. I must admit every time I unload my car after one of my grocery shopping events I wonder if this 6 to 8 week thing is wise. Then I calculate my savings and I always decide it's the only way to go!